Petulia claims she has fallen and broken her rib but Archie doubts that it was caused by an accident. He asks his friend Barney (Arthur Hill), also a doctor, to take a look at her. Barney suggests lunch to discuss what he found and they meet at a topless club, newly popular back then after Carol Doda had blazed the trail in North Beach four years earlier. Below, Archie enters the club and makes his way past a long bar.
But where was this club? Citysleuth has been looking in vain for it for two years then - serendipity! - he came across it in another movie, revealing the location. The club was Varni's Roaring Twenties at 807 Montgomery Street near Jackson, long since closed down.
In 1964 ... This vintage photo shows how the Roaring 20s looked back then. Note the stained glass circular window on each side of the entrance and the friezes above them displaying a girl on a swing, a novel feature of the club.
... and Now, 807 Montgomery today (below), now houses law offices. (Incidentally, it's on the same block as Ernie's Restaurant of Vertigo fame - see that here).
Then ... Archie joins Barney at his table - the long bar can be seen behind them to the right and, beyond Barney, one of those stained glass windows. Note the girl swinging behind them in an open well space above the exposed basement level and note too the chandelier encircled by light bulbs in front of her.
... and Now, taken from near the same spot on the ground floor of the building looking towards the entrance, the photo below shows an interior made over into office space. In particular the open well has been floored over and a row of offices added along the wall on the right where the bar used to be.
From another movie ... Amazingly a scene was filmed six years earlier in the 1962 San Francisco movie Experiment In Terror from the exact same spot. Here it is, with the swinging girls and a view of that stained glass circular window. The same chandelier is also there.
And, on a nostalgia note, here's a matchbox cover from the club with, naturally, the ubiquitous girl on a swing.
Scottie sneaks into the rear of Podesta Baldocchi, the flower shop, and spies Madeleine inside. The shop was at 224 Grant Avenue near Union Square (map). One reason director Hitchcock reportedly chose this shop was because he liked its distinctive Italian tiled floor. Kim Novak hated this grey outfit and when she complained about it to Hitchcock he reportedly told her "You can wear any color you want so long as it's grey".
Then ... later in the movie Scottie is shown in front of the shop.
... in 1958, this vintage photo shows how Podesta Baldocchi looked when the movie was filmed.
... and Now, 224 Grant Avenue today houses a contemporary clothing store, 7 For All Mankind. Along to the right is Ashburton, the alley Madeleine turned into when Scottie followed her to the shop. Since leaving here Podesta Baldocchi continued in business at a number of addresses and is currently to be found at the Flower Market at 644 Brannan; it also offers deliveries via its website.
The coastguard has found a body floating in the bay, dressed as a porter. Quine recognizes him as one of those who participated in the lineup, presumably eliminated by the drug ring to keep his mouth shut.
Then ... Note the Palace of Fine Arts in the center of the far shore.
Below, a Google satellite view of the location. The scene was filmed on the coastguard pier near Crissy Field in the Presidio not far from Fort Point. Doyle Drive crosses at bottom of the picture. The same pier is one of two seen in the view towards Crissy Field in the movie 'Dark Passage' .
The cab driver who was shot by the policeman as he made off with the bag in the opening scene has been identified as Lefty Jenkins - "... one of the best wheelmen on the coast". The police search his rented room "at 11 Kent Street" but don't find any evidence to identify the drug ring.
Then ... The police car heads up Mason Street towards Union from Filbert.
... and Now, this view, with Angel Island is in the distance, hasn't changed appreciably in over 55 years.
Then ... They turn into a narrow cul-de-sac. This is indeed Kent Street off Mason between Union and Filbert (map). What's with all of those newspapers on the street?
...and Now, the only significant change in this view is the house at the end of the street.
Then ... They enter from Kent Street, supposedly No. 11, but actually the rear door of a building which fronts onto Union Street ...
and Now ... the rear entrance has been replaced by a garage door.